UP TO 100,000 Afghan children could die this winter unless aid reaches the country, a leading charity warned yesterday.

Save the Children called on politicians and the public to support its Christmas appeal in aid of children in Afghanistan.

The charity said Afghanistan's problems pre-dated September 11, with a quarter of Afghan children dying before the age of five.

Its findings were originally due to be presented to the United Nations Special Summit on Children in New York, only for the event to be cancelled in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

A booklet called Afghanistan's Children was launched yesterday after consultations with more than 1,500 children across the war-torn country.

The charity uncovered stories of children being married off at the age of 12 or forced to work on the streets after their mothers, who were forbidden from working under the Taliban regime, lost their husbands in the war.

It said only 3pc of girls had access to schools and an estimated 35,000 children had fallen victim to the 10 million land mines scattered around the country.

Half of all children under five were said to be underweight and an estimated 50,000 children are working on the streets of Kabul.

Save the Children aims to collect 8,000 quilts, 5,000 sets of children's clothes and food supplies.

Ascencion Martinez, Save the Children UK's Afghanistan health co-ordinator, said the bitter Afghan winter had now begun. "Most of those forced from their homes by drought or conflict are left with nothing over their heads except the thin cloth of a makeshift tent, and their families will die from cold, hunger and disease if we cannot reach them quickly enough."